


Dr. Crane Will See You Now

by lfthinkerwrites



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Human Experimentation, Jonathan Crane is a bad bad man, Minor Character Death, Murder, OC character - Freeform, Psychological Horror, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 07:42:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16677430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lfthinkerwrites/pseuds/lfthinkerwrites
Summary: A typical 'session' with Dr. Jonathan Crane and an unwilling patient.





	Dr. Crane Will See You Now

The only light in the ramshackle old doctor’s office came from a single flickering light bulb, but that was all the light Jonathan needed. He preferred to work in the dark as much as possible. He’d performed his sessions so often that the movements were a reflex to him. Fill the syringes. Load the gauntlet. Don the mask. A groaning coming from a chair in the center of the room alerted him that his patient was ready. Dr. Crane will see you now.  

Jonathan reached down to a small table next to him and pressed play on a tape recorder. He always recorded his sessions for further use. He began to speak. “Session 204. This is Dr. Jonathan Crane. The date is October 31st, 2018. The time is three am. The patient is just coming to after heavy sedation was applied three hours prior. He will be the first to undergo treatment with my newest iteration of FT, batch 35. I have calculated that this latest batch will allow the patient to experience more vivid hallucinations, without the side effects of batches 33 and 34. I will begin the session now.” Jonathan walked slowly from the table to his patient. “Good evening.”

The man, a scrawny, bearded derelict from one of the many back alleys of Gotham groaned again and slowly opened his eyes. “What-where-”

Jonathan spoke in a low, slow tone. His sessions were so much more productive when the patients were as relaxed as possible. “I imagine this must be confusing for you. Waking up in a dark room, barely able to see a foot in front of you, your mind and body sluggish from the sedatives, your hands, and feet strapped to a chair-” The man’s eyes widened a bit and he began to struggle, uselessly. The restraints Jonathan used were sufficient to contain larger specimens than this one. “Now, settle down,” he lightly scolded. “The process will go much smoother if you cooperate.”

“Who-who are you?” the man stuttered, his voice already dripping with fear. Excellent.

“I was formerly Professor Jonathan Crane,” he said. He then leaned down into the patient’s face, making sure that he had a full view of him in his mask. “You may refer to me as Scarecrow.”

The man’s brown eyes widened again and he choked out a cry. “Oh-Jesus-Oh God-”

“I am the only God in this room tonight,” Jonathan said. “And I am not a merciful one.”

The man struggled again, but the leather straps held firm. A sob came from him. “Please,” he said. “Please, let me go. I won’t tell the cops or anythin’ I swear! I’ll do whatever you want-”

“You can stop that right there,” Jonathan said, removing a syringe from his gauntlet. “The only thing that I desire, is your complete cooperation. You can save your pleas. I’ve heard it all before.”

The man was crying now in earnest. “Don’t kill me, please don’t kill me,”

Jonathan smoothed back the man’s hair, damp with sweat, in an almost comforting manner. “Now now,” he soothed. “I won’t kill you. I want to hear your greatest fears first.” Then he injected the syringe directly into the Subject’s neck.

The Subject let out a wail of pain and terror before he grew silent. Jonathan reached behind him to grab his notebook and waited. “Subject has just received the injection. According to my calculations, he should be exhibiting symptoms beginning-” Now. The subject’s breath began to come in deep gasps and he tried in vain once more to free his hands from the restraints.

“Watch it, boys,” he murmured. “Guerillas could be-There! Oh, God! They got Dennis! Take cover!”

“Visual hallucinations have begun less than thirty seconds after preliminary exposure,” Jonathan wrote down. “Interestingly, the subject would appear to be recalling combat experiences from earlier in his life. He likely suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” He clucked his tongue. “Such a shame our veterans don’t get the mental health care they need.”

Another wail tore out of the Subject’s throat, a long, keening cry. “I’m sorry!” he sobbed. “Benny, Dennis, Carl, Mark! I’m sorry, I’m sorry-” he rambled on until he was nearly incoherent.

Jonathan put down his notebook to check the Subject’s pulse. “Subject’s heart rate is elevated, much higher than with previous batches. The Subject-” Deep gasps distracted Jonathan from his narration and he looked to see the Subject’s face was blue. His body spasmed against the restraints, his brown eyes wide and bloodshot and nearly bulging out of his sockets. Finally, his breath came out in a death rattle and he slumped over in the chair. Jonathan did nothing but watch him, cold and calculating. He kept his long bony fingers on the man’s pulse point until it faded into nothing. “The Subject is deceased. I’m not a medical doctor, but given the accelerated heart rate, my guess would be that he passed of cardiac arrest. Whether this is because of the exposure to this batch of toxin alone or whether the exposure exacerbated an existing condition I cannot say. More testing is required.” And with that, Jonathan switched off the tape recorder. He then considered the corpse with a disinterested sigh. He’d need to relocate his laboratory. Sooner or later, GCPD or the Batman would notice how many derelicts in this neighborhood were showing up dead. Oh well. He would dispose of him just like the rest.

**Author's Note:**

> I've done a few lighter works with Jonathan, so I felt like mixing it up a bit. This is my first experiment with horror.


End file.
